Ultimate Player Manager

Editor in chief: Alkis Polyrakis Editors: Danne Johansson Nikos Andreou Alex Brante Pedro Quaresma Robert Swift Darren Gurney Sub editor: Claire Rossiter Translator: Fabio Artuso Cover Art: Alkis Polyrakis Host: http://www.ko-gathering.com Contact Information: Address: The Aftertouch Magazine Eyterpis 31 15561 HOLARGOS ATHENS, GREECE E-mail address: [email protected] Phone number: +306972009524 Hello again fellow KOAers, and welcome to the best issue of The Aftertouch magazine so far. If you thought the two previous ones were good, you're going to love this one as each page is getting more and more interesting. In fact, I doubt most of you will get to the bottom of this editorial as I know you're dying to get to the articles.. but I have to write it anyway. Some of you that haven't been in the KOA long enough may not recognize the gentleman in the cover. Well, even those who do know him may have trouble recognizing him as our make-up artists did their best to give him that 'Terminator' look that matches his nickname. Vasilis Vasiliou, also known as Bill21, explains why he decided to retire from competitive Kick Off and shares his thoughts on the KOA's current status quo in this month's interview. Some of the things he says will make us feel uneasy, and they certainly deserve our attention. I know almost all of us are guys here and therefore pay little attention to birth dates and anniversaries, but this one is not to be neglected: The KOA becomes three years old this month! Yes, time does fly by. We have prepared a complete flashback for you that tells the story of our existence trimester by trimester, accompanied with wishes of some of our distinguished members. Haven't you always wondered which players found in the Kick Off 2 disk are the fastest, which get tired too quickly and which are the best shooters? Are you intrigued by gossip trivia such as how tall is Fisher anyway, and what makes Lindsey impossible to budge? You don't have to wait a minute longer. The Aftertouch contacted the Hex expert Steve Camber for answers to those questions and is proud to present exclusively the complete attribute lists of all the players in Kick Off 2! Team A/B (International, Division 1, Division 2, Division 3, Division 4), France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Scotland, Spain and Sweden; they're all there. Consider it as a Valentine's gift from us to you. In the last month's issue we gave you a preview of one of the projects Steve Screech was working on, Kick Off 2004. This month Darren Gurney presents a preview of the other one, Ultimate Player Manager, Unfortunately, the making process has (temporarily we hope) stopped, and we can only wish that those ambitious titles will be completed one day. Kick Off 2 tournament rules. Should we change them? We do not know the answer to that question and we do not try to give it in The Wind of Change article. What we do is present the current World Cup rules, the changes that have been suggested and the pros and cons that have been discussed in the past, hoping to inspire a democratic and fruitful discussion in the forums. In the article, you will also find a suggestion on how we should decide on the rules. In addition to the world's top 20, the latest tournament news, and the 16-bit Jewel review (Nikos Andreou chose Benefactor, another underrated Amiga title), we have a new column for you. Robert Swift joined our staff and he will be unveiling the secrets of Player Manager in PLAYER MANAGER – From beginner to expert from now on. Enough with the prologue.. enjoy the read! Alkis Polyrakis Bill Vasiliou, the Greek terminator Interview with Alkis Polyrakis Bill joined the KOA on November 2001. He played his first tournament a month later in Athens. He became famous in Gloucester, when he lost the title of the English championships to Rikki Fullarton due to a mere two goal difference. A great attacker, he was ranked #1 for 3 months: April & May 2002, and November 2002. It wasn't until recently that he was out of the top 10, after an entire year of inactivity. Not many people believed him when he announced his early retirement a couple of weeks before the 2nd world cup in Athens. Unfortunately, he has kept his word and has never played an official tournament since then. The Aftertouch contacted him during the Christmas holidays and took the chance to interview him. My advice to you is to read the pages that follow very carefully. You'll find out that Bill is more than a good KO2 player; he's a thinking person with plenty of interesting ideas. AP: Welcome to our humble magazine, prodigal son of the KOA. BV: Hello Alkis. Thank you for calling me in your magazine, I feel honoured to be here. AP: How do you like The Aftertouch magazine so far? BV: I’ve seen the previous issue and I have to say it is looking great and shows the hard work and dedication put into it. Funny thing is, I was just thinking we should do something like that so you can understand my surprise when you mentioned The Aftertouch to me! AP: Please tell us a bit about yourself, how old are you, what do you do, when did you get your first computer, when did you start playing Kick Off? BV: Are there any women reading this, I don’t want to look too old! (laughs) Seriously, I’m 28 years old, currently working in British Telecomms as a Broadband IP Designer. I got my first computer back in 86, it was an Amstrad CPC6128 and loved it to bits. In June 89 I played Kick Off on a friend’s Amiga and from that day onwards couldn’t rest till I got my hands on one as well. It just so happened in November of the same year, I had to sell my Amstrad to get my Amiga 500 and of course, one of the first games I got was Kick Off. I’ve been playing it and subsequent versions ever since. AP: What's the name of the joystick you're using? BV: I’m using a Starfighter 2000, the same one I bought with my Amiga all that time ago and it’s my precious! Can’t play with any other joystick and feel clumsy even with my friend’s Spyros SF2000. AP: How did you discover the KOA? BV: By complete accident of fate I have to say. I was searching for old PC games to download (like Eye of the Beholder) and there was this site where you could pick them. The guy had a zip for Kick Off and next to it he had text mentioning something about a ‘Kick Off 2002’. I followed the link and it got me to the very first site and forum. That’s where I found the KOA to my big surprise: people still playing KO2!! It was 2 days before you flew over to Dartford WC. You can imagine how much I wanted to be a part of that. AP: What's your opinion on the new Kick Off games? Have you ever played Kick Off 2002? BV: I feel a bit of a traitor in this area. I never played KO2002, mainly because my crappy old PC will not handle it but even so, I couldn’t get myself playing with a keyboard. Now that I’ve got a laptop from work and if I find a joystick adapter I’m willing to give it a shot. AP: What in your opinion makes a 13 year old game so addictive that many people are interested in it, even today? BV: Very simple answer really: it’s the best football game ever made. Nothing before and nothing after that comes any closer to giving the real football experience. In fact, in my mind I don’t even see it as a computer game but a gift of God to the football crazed fans who lack the skill to play the real physical game, kind of like me. AP: 4-4-2 was the formation you used during your KOA career. You don't seem to like it any more. What made you select it in the first place, and why did you decide to ditch it? BV: Actually I was a 5-3-2 man for 70% of my career games. I selected 4-4-2 when my team AEK Athens reverted to a zonal defence in 92-93 and wanted to imitate that and learn to counter the intricacies of that defence. So again, I was real football guided. While doing that, I really liked the positioning of the attackers, which is the best of all tactics, and significantly improved my attacking game, so I decided to stick with it, and with no humble success I may say. There are several reasons for leaving it. First, the re-learning will increase my waning interest in the game of lately. Second, I think that when I get round to it I will be even more efficient. I found that, although very effective overall, my attacking had become a bit predictable and a determined defender could mark me out of a game, while at the same time, the weaknesses in the centre of the tactics lead to goals I could do nothing about, mainly lobs.

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